5X社区视频

Research and knowledge exchange

Guidance for creating a proposal

The 5X社区视频 wishes to encourage high quality proposals for the funding of research and knowledge exchange activities. All proposals should undergo internal review before submission, and pass through the institutional authorisation process.

The development and submission of proposals are supported by R&I and are recorded in the research system. The 5X社区视频 uses the Worktribe research management system for all research bids. This replaces the Intention to Apply/proforma process previously used by schools.

All proposals should be costed on a full economic cost (FEC) basis, subject to an appropriate level of internal review, and appropriately authorised. It is important to allow sufficient time for all of these aspects to be undertaken, so that only high quality proposals are submitted.

Worktribe is the holistic research management system designed to support the whole project life cycle from proposal development to post award management at the university. This also replaces the Intention to Apply/pro forma process previously used by Schools.

This management and information system is used to develop, capture and administer the 5X社区视频’s research and knowledge exchange portfolio. All externally-funded projects need to be recorded in it, in order to be authorised, and before an account can be set up. This includes projects under £5,000 (unlike previously), and those led by other research organisations.

Project Investigators/Project leads will need to complete the , after which you should be sent Worktribe access within one week. You can then create a new Worktribe project and start to draft your costings. You can find lots of step-by-step demonstration videos here, and there are also lots of short Help topics on the Worktribe system itself.

There is a separate system used for administering research governance requirements such as research ethics approval, clinical sponsorship, and human tissue licences.

As a Principal Investigator, you will need to first create a project on Worktribe and complete the relevant fields, second complete the risk assessment questions and thirdly when you have created the project with all the necessary fields, please email your RDM and copy the relevant people at your school (see the Worktribe help topic: for school ITA notification email contacts).

It is the 5X社区视频's policy that all proposal submitted for external funding should be subject to an appropriate level of internal (peer) review, to ensure they are of high quality and relevance, and have the greatest chances of success. The mechanism varies between departments/schools/faculties and type of activity. Researchers are encouraged to familiarise themselves with their faculty's requirements. Find here a summary of the school internal review processes information.

 

There is a range of responsibilities undertaken by investigators, heads of departments and schools, and professional support staff. An overview of those responsibilities is available.

All employees are eligible to undertake the responsibilities of an investigator of an externally-funded project, subject to agreement by their Head of School or Head of Professional Service that they are suitable to do so. The contract of employment of an individual should extend to at least three months after the end of the defined period of the project for them to be a Principal Investigator (in order to be able to produce all final documentation). 

The approvals process for research and knowledge exchange activity is the same across the 5X社区视频, and is operated through Research & Innovation Services. All proposals need the agreement of each investigator’s Head of School, and may also require the relevant Pro-Vice-Chancellor’s and VCEG’s agreement, depending on the assessed level of risk involved, bid complexity and those over 5 million GBP (cost to HEI). The institutional approvals is initiated by RIS on Worktribe, and your project will then be automatically routed to the appropriate authorisers in the approvals workflow. Sufficient time should be allowed for this process to take place, to enable authorisers to consider the project properly.

Once your application is ready and peer reviewed, your budget is finalised, and you have reviewed the risk assessment, liaise with your Research Development Manager (RDM), who will perform all due checks and will submit your project for internal approvals in Worktribe.

Applications must be ready to be sent for internal approvals in Worktribe 10 working days before the funder deadline or your intended submission date. This will enable approvers to consider the project and all risks properly, and liaise with you on any queries. 

Authorised Signatories for Research Bids and Awards
1. Internal approvals: Including a representative in Research and Innovation (RIS), there are individuals (Facility manager(s), Technical Services Manager, Finance business partner and School/Faculty approvers) delegated as authorised approvers for Faculty/Schools in Worktribe.
2. Signature of contracts and agreements: Council delegates the authority to sign contracts and agreements for research activities on behalf of the 5X社区视频 to specific staff members in Research and Innovation Services, dependent on the nature of the contract.

After all approvals are obtained, you will have green light to submit your proposal to the funder.

Different funders have different submission procedures. You might need to submit your proposal via email or through an online portal. See ‘Funders’ Electronic Submissions Systems’ for more details. Please note that for some funders, like the Research Councils, when you complete and submit your application it does not go to the funder, but to your Research Development Office. Your RDM must then submit it through the funder portal. Other funders may require you to submit the application directly. When that’s the case, please send your RDM a copy of the submitted bid.

Externally-funded research and knowledge exchange activity is usually subject to terms and conditions, whether standard terms (e.g. Research Councils, charities, and some government-funded work) or individual terms (e.g. industry and some government work). The terms of activities funded as “grants” can be as onerous as those described as "contracts".

Some key elements within a research agreement are: the ability to publish (or submit and examine a thesis for a studentship); indemnities and warranties; confidentiality; ownership and use of intellectual property (background, foreground and sideground); and price and payments.

The 5X社区视频, through Research & Innovation Services, reviews funder/customer terms, and uses a set of standard contractual arrangements for a range of activities (e.g. research, studentships, materials transfer, and service provision) for use in negotiation. Where additional support is needed with non-standard contracts, project leads are now able to request support through the ‘Contracts’ tab on Worktribe, in collaboration with their Research Development Manager. Please see the Contracts area for more information on this team’s support offer.

Research activity, however funded, that involves human participation, data, human tissues or the use of animals requires appropriate approval before it can start. Approval can only be given by a recognised research ethics committee. Activity involving NHS staff, patients or facilities requires Sponsorship approval before being reviewed by an . Other such activity must be reviewed by one of the 5X社区视频’s research ethics committees or by another external or regulatory research ethics committee in accordance with the 5X社区视频's requirements. 

Research activity must follow good research practice, and Investigators must ensure adherence to any relevant legislation, regulation or policies.

For details of the 5X社区视频's ethical review and research governance procedures and policies, please refer to the Research Governance web pages.

The 5X社区视频 has an international outlook, for details of the guidance and associated policies for managing risk in global engagement (including research), please refer to the Division of General Counsel, Governance and Compliance web pages.

Certain clinical research activities are subject to sponsorship requirements, governed by legislation (the Clinical Trials Regulations) or by regulation (the 's . Information about this is available from our 'Applying for Research Sponsorship' page.